Motorcycling in Southern California
 

Riding in SoCal was brilliant most of the time. The weather was so predictable and benign that you could plan rides months in advance knowing you'd not get rained off. The rainy season was November to March but storms would come through once a week (worst case), last for 2 days and it would be sunny in between.

Then there's this (from a couple of years ago):

https://www.rideapart.com/articles/2...e-officer-rob/

It's an LAPD motorcycle cop responding to a call on the 91 freeway. The 91 was hopelessly over capacity when I lived there because it led to the less expensive housing in Riverside/Corona. Traffic hasn't improved by the look of things. They've tried toll lanes and adding more free lanes until they ran out of space, they were talking of making it a double decker freeway when I left. Usually it's the CHP that respond to freeway problems, the city police would normally handle surface streets.

Incidentally, California is the only state where you can lane split (filter) but with LA traffic it's essential for the emergency responders to get around so the CHP always fought to keep it. Makes a big difference to commute times but there are bikes down most days.

Re: Motorcycling in Southern California
 

They have a good system in Germany where it's law to pull to the edge, left or right to create a centre channel in traffic jams on motorways / highways for this very reason. Emergency services can breeze through much easier. People respect it and do it too.

Re: Motorcycling in Southern California
 

The thing I liked most in Germany was when the traffic lights get turned off on the priority route in the evening when its not busy and the routes joining or crossing show flashing amber indicating give way.

How completely and utterly sensible.

Re: Motorcycling in Southern California
 

We have traffic lights near us that still operate all night for access to a quarry that has large locked gates from 6pm to 8am. Exactly the opposite of Germany! I often wonder what would happen if someone was caught jumping the red when no one can physically exit from the gated side road that has the green.

Re: Motorcycling in Southern California
 

Similar system when I worked in Amsterdam.The lights were also triggered if you exceeded the speed limit so if you kept smooth I used cruise easy back to the digs depending on what shift I was on :)

Re: Motorcycling in Southern California
 

Same here in Turkey. Also, in Fethiye town and probably elsewhere in Turkey, most traffic lights have a countdown display to tell drivers how many seconds to the light changing. Brilliant for traffic flow and reducing frustrations.

Re: Motorcycling in Southern California
 

We have supposedly part time traffic lights on many islands by us, part time my ar5e, they still managed to stop me at 4-30 am going to work when i was the only vehicle on the road. They have installed traffic lights on islands that never used to have a queue - and guess what - big queues now, also replaced islands with crossroads and lights and managed to increase the number of accidents while at the same time slowing traffic flow - some feat that only a roads engineer could manage. Just when other countries have discovered road islands and are building them to replace lights, we are digging them up and putting traffic lights instead.

Re: Motorcycling in Southern California
 

Traffic jams on the autobahn in Germany we just started using the hard shoulder like the local two wheelers did when they got fed up of filtering.

Anyway wherever we are, we filter. The pillion just waves the old British passport to any dissenters. Bye byeeee.